FAZANA - LOCAL AND TOURIST INFORMATION

Fazana

A historic and picturesque centre, beaches, water sports restaurants and bars all within easy reach. Fazana villas are ideal for families wanting a destination that can offer something for all age groups.

Fazana is a gorgeous small town, full of colour and life and rich in history. There are numerous cafes and restaurants along its busy sea front looking out over the colourful array of small boats in the harbour. From here you can take a boat trip to the idyllic Brioni islands, once the summer home of Yugoslavia's President Tito. Fazana's history extends back 2000 years as it was an important economic centre in Roman times. The town is the perfect holiday destination as not only can you enjoy the picturesque centre of the old town but along the coast there are a series of excellent beaches. Villas in Fazana have the best of both worlds. You can walk from your villa to the centre of town for an evening out and are also just a few metres from the beaches where beach bars provide refreshment and, for thrill seekers, a range of water sports such as jet skis and paragliding are available.

Fazana harbour

Beach and coastal path in Fazana

Fazana is 8 kilometres from the centre of Pula with its museums and fine Roman amphitheatre, busy shopping streets and vibrant night life. Pula airport is just 13 kilometres distant so just a short taxi ride away.

One of the more unusual activities available in Fazana are the free course offered by the Small Fishing Academy Pilchard. Here you will learn all about fishing in the traditional way and have the opportunity to row a traditional Fazana fishing boat (batana).

Pula

Pula is the main regional town in Istria, with an attractive shopping area, spectacular harbour, lively night live, amazing history, many restaurants and cafes and wonderful beaches. Walk through Pula and experience old town streets and squares some of which were there even in Roman times. The stunning Roman amphitheatre is from the first century AD and ranks as the sixth largest in the world. The amphitheatre or "Arena" is still used for concerts (classical and pop), for gladiatorial re-enactments and for showing Pula's annual film festival. Watching one of these events under the night sky and from the same stone seats that were being used 2000 years ago is a unique experience. The amphitheatre is open to the public daily (pulainfo.hr). Other Roman monuments in Pula include a Triumphal Arch at the entrance to the main shopping street. . The museum is full of artefacts and stonework from Roman times. The Forum, a square surrounded by Roman and renaissance architecture, is a delightful spot to relax over a coffee or a cool drink.

Pula Amphitheatre

Istria is an integral part of Croatia's move into the music festival market. The 19th-century fort of Punta Christo, outside Pula, will echo to the throb of sound systems during the Outlook festival at the end of August each year.

Pula is an important port and industrial centre and the shipyard with huge ships under repair and construction right on the harbour front and with its cranes illuminated at night, provides an unusual back drop to this historic town.

Beaches

There are excellent beaches on the many peninsulas and bays around Pula, notable are Stoja, Veruda, Verudela and Pjesana Uvala. A little further out of town the nature reserve of Rt Karmenjak on the very tip of the Istrian peninsula provides kilometres of unspoilt coastline and many bays or rocky headlands where you can swim in the crystal clear sea.

Bay in Premantura

Jumping at Rt Kamenjak

Brioni islands

The nearby Brioni islands are a national park area and formerly the summer residence of Yugoslavia's President Tito. During Tito's era many world leader visited this pretty group of small islands which Tito populated with exotic wild animals to entertain his guests. Today visitors can stay in the hotel on the islands or make boat trips from Pula harbour or from the town of Fazana.

Brioni Islands

Getting there

Pula airport is just 10 minutes drive from Pula centre. There are direct flights from the UK and most European countries including Scandinavia, Russia and the Ukraine. There is a ferry service from Venice and good motorway links through Slovenia onto the Italian and Austrian motorway networks.

Vodnjan

Vodnjan is a charming town with many medieval houses and narrow winding streets and sunny town squares which are full of shops and cafes, and outdoor life. You can eat spectacular ice creams sitting in an outside cafè all day, sip cool beers and crisp dry white Malvasia local wine, browse the town market, or visit restaurants and bars in the evening, when the whole town seems to be alive with strollers and diners. The focal point of the town is the Baroque church of St Blaise, well worth a visit as it contains great old master Italian paintings, antique items and relics. Visit Betika Palace to see and learn more about Vodnjan's history which is so intertwined with the history of Venice. If you are in Vodnjan in August, you will be entertained by the traditional summer festival with all kinds of food stalls to sample from, local arts and crafts and music performances in town squares. In the surrounding area it is worth visiting a little village of Peroj, with its own nice beach, 4km from Vodnjan. Also nearby is the small town of Fazana, which has its own lovely harbour from where you can hire boats and water taxis to take you to the fabulous national park islands of Brioni. You can swim on Fazana's lovely pebbly and very clean beach.

Vodnjan Town Square

On the day when you want to splash out, visit restaurant "Vodnjanka", one of the best in the area, where the owner Mrs Svjetlana Celija is also the chef (open 11am - 12 midnight, telephone +385 (0)52 511435). This family restaurant has been providing delicious food for 40 years, and go there if you love gnocchi, home made pasta, truffles, wild asparagus, air dried prosciutto ham, grilled fish, venison and lots more. Local reds and whites are gorgeous - red tangy merlots and white malvazia and pinot, chardonnays and amazing rose wines. Or, you can sit in a town bistro with a plate of grilled calamari, home made chips and a mixed salad if you want to keep it simple.